Game 97. Yanks Rout Rockies, 11-5.

The Yankees (64-33) routed Colorado Saturday afternoon, 11-5.

We will see about tonight’s games regarding the Rays and Red Sox.

I am writing this recap early because my bus for Cooperstown, and Mariano’s HOF ceremony (along with Mussina’s and others) leaves at 5 AM tomorrow morning.

Masahiro Tanaka’s day was better than it will appear. He pitched five scoreless innings before tiring because of the intense heat in the sixth inning.

The Yanks scored in the first inning when D.J. LeMahieu singled and Aaron Judge doubled.

The scored five in the second inning to make it 6-0. Didi Gregorius doubled to lead off the inning. Gleyber Torres singled in Didi and went all the way to third on an error. Didi had stopped at third and the error enabled Didi to score and Torres, who was heading for second, to advance to third. Austin Romine singled in Torres to make it 3-0, and after an out, Romine stole second. LeMahieu and Judge each walked to load the bases, and Aaron Hicks singled in one run to make it 4-0 then Edwin Encarnacion doubled in two to make it 6-0. At that point, you figured the Yanks had this game. Luke Voit walked to load the bases with one out, but the Yanks didn’t score any more runs that inning.

The Yanks made it 9-0 in the fourth. Hicks led off the inning with a walk, and one out later, Voit was HBP. It hit his shoulder and ricocheted into his face. Although he finished the inning and was OK, Voit was removed after the inning, what with the 9-0 lead and the heat to be sure he was OK. Didi Gregorius then singled in Hicks, Voit moving to third, to make it 7-0. A WP moved Didi up to second, Voit holding. Gleyber Torres then singled in two runs to make it 9-0.

Tanaka, who pitched five shutout innings, fell victim to the intense heat with one out in the sixth, giving up a single, run-scoring double, walk, 3-run HR, double, and RBI single before getting the last two outs. 9-5 Yankees.

On a day as hot as today was, the pitch count limit probably gets dropped from say, 100, to 80. Tanaka threw 85, so the heat may have gotten to him after say, 65? It was about 97 degrees in NYC today, heat index higher.

The Yanks got two runs in the seventh. Brett Gardner walked, and D.J. LeMahieu singled him to third. Mike Tauchman, who replaced Aaron Judge when the Yanks had a big 9-0 lead to give Judge a break, grounded into a force out that brought the run home, making it 10-5. After Aaron Hicks struck out, Edwin Encarnacion hit a ball that should have been caught but wasn’t. Another case of hustle by Tauchman. With two out, he was running on the pitch and scored on a single by Encarnacion, who only moved to second because of the attempt at the plate to nail Tauchman.

Tauchman is growing on me. I like his hustle the past few games.

LeMahieu 3 hits.  .334 leads AL
Encarnacion 2 hits, 3 RBI. Heating up.
Gregorius 2 hits, RBI
Torres 3 hits, 2 RBI
Romine 2 hits, RBI

Tanaka (W, 7-5, 4.00) 6 IP, 5 R, 7 H, 1 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. Heat got to him in 6th. Gave up no runs on only 2 hits through first five innings.
Kahnle 1 IP,  0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.82
Hale 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.   2.23

 

 

 

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Minor League Report. AAA & AA waste good efforts by starters.

AAA: SWB (56-42) blew a 6-0 lead they took into the ninth. They gave up six in the top of the ninth (on four HR) and two more in the top of the tenth to lose 8-6. RF Trey Amburgey 2 hits, solo HR. DH Zach Zehner 4 RBI, grand slam. CF Terrance Gore (recently acquired) 2 hits. The relief meltdown ruined a nice outing by starter Brody Koerner. Ugly loss.

Koerner 7 2/3 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 1 W, 8 K.  3.75
Dan Jennings 2/3 IP, 5 R, 5 H, 0 W, 0 K.  67.50. Gave up 3 HR. 1st game for SWB.
Feyereisen (L, 7-1, 2.66; BS, 2) 1 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 W, 2 K.  Gave up 1 HR.

AA: Trenton (50-44) lost 2-0, getting just one hit in the loss.

Keller (L, 1-1, 2.43) 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR
Lail 2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K.  1.93

High A: Tampa (42-54) won 5-4 in a game called after five innings. DH Estevan Florial 2 hits. 2B Oswaldo Cabrera 2-run HR. C Donny Sands 2 RBI.

Low A:

Charleston lost the completion of Thursday’s suspended game, 3-2. Starter Rony Contreras 5 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 W, 5 K. 4.33.

Charleston (49-50) won the regularly scheduled game, 5-1. LF Canaan Smith (.301) 2 hits, 3 RBI. C Mickey Gasper 2 hits, RBI. Charlie Ruegger 5 1/3 scoreless relief IP for the win.

Game 96. Yanks slam Rockies, 8-2, behind some ex-Rockies. Lead now 9.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a grand slam, ex-Rockies D.J. LeMahieu, Mike Tauchman, and Adam Ottavino tormented their former team, and Aaron Judge added a 2-run HR as the Yanks (63-33) beat Colorado 8-2 Friday night.

With the win, the Yanks’ AL East lead grew to 9 over Tampa Bay and 11 over Boston.

The Rockies struck first, scoring two in the second off of J.A. Happ. Ryan McMahon led off the inning with a HR, then an out later, Chris Ianetta singled and then scored on a double by Garrett Hampson. Hampson advanced to third on the play on an error by Gleyber Torres. Happ got out of further trouble, when, on a fly ball to LF Mike Tauchman,  Tauchman lined up perfectly to catch the ball and then threw a perfect one-hopper to Gary Sanchez to nail Hampson, who was trying to tag up and score on the flyout, at the plate.

The Yanks took over in the third inning. With one out, LeMahieu, the former Rockie (as is Tauchman and Ottavino) singled. Both Judge and Sanchez walked, and Encarnacion hit a grand slam, his 29th HR of the season, to put the Yanks’ up 4-2.

Tauchman was huge in this game. Besides throwing a guy out at the plate, his hustle came up big. He made a nice sliding catch at one point in the game, and in the fourth, with two out, blooped a hit into shallow left. He hustled it into a double, and that hustle paid off when LeMahieu singled him in to make it 5-2.

Tauchman singled with one out in the sixth, and then showed off his hustle again by stealing second. He advanced to third on a throwing error on the play and scored on a fielders’ choice grounder, beating the play at the plate. More hustle. LeMahieu reached on that play, and then Judge added a 2-run HR (11) to make it 8-2.

The Yanks got excellent relief pitching as Happ, Ottavino and Stephen Tarpley combined for 17 K. 

With Nestor Cortes, Jr. having gone a few innings on Thursday, he was sent down and Tarpley brought up in order for the Yanks to have a “fresh arm.”

LeMahieu 2 hits, 2 RBI .330
Judge 2-run HR (11), threw out a guy at second.
Encarnacion grand slam HR (29), 4 RBI
Hicks 2 hits
Torres 2 hits
Tauchman 3 hits, scored two runs due to hustle, made great defensive plays.

Happ (W, 8-5, 4.86) 5 IP, 2 R, 8 H, 2 W, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR. In and out of trouble all night, helped by Tauchman and Judge.
Ottavino (H, 23) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  1.66
Tarpley (S, 2) 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 6 K.  7.30.

Manager Aaron Boone was suspended for this game due to his ejection in Game 1 of Thursday’s DH.

I can’t help but think. With the excellent defense (and hitting) LeMahieu and Urshela provide, could good bat/weak glove youngsters Clint Frazier and (the injured) Miguel Andujar be on the trade block in order to land a starting pitcher? There are only so many spots to go around to fill up a team, and someone would have to go.

My reports this weekend may be spotty, if at all. I’ll be up in Cooperstown Sunday for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

 

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (56-41) won 7-6. 1B Mike Ford (.305-20-52) 2 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR. C Erik Kratz 3 hits (.339, and Kratz is 39!). CF Billy Burns 2 hits. RF Zach Zehner 2 hits, 2 RBI. Jonathan Holder 2 1/3 scoreless IP for the win.

AA: Trenton (50-43) lost 9-1, getting just six hits.

High A: Tampa (41-54) scored five times in the fourth inning and won 5-4.  1B Steven Sensley 2 RBI. Tampa won despite committing four errors.

Low A: Charleston’s game was suspended in the bottom of the seventh with Charleston trailing, 3-2. It is scheduled to be completed today, Friday.

Game 95. Yanks win 5-1 to complete DH sweep of Rays, go 8 up.

The Yankees (62-33) completed a doubleheader sweep of Tampa Bay by winning the nightcap, 5-1, Thursday night. They had won the opener (see post: Game 94) 6-2.

Chad Green started as the “opener” and got into immediate trouble, giving up a single, walk and HBP to load the bases with no one out. He got out of it with a K, popup and another K.

The Yanks are 8-0 when utilizing Green as the “opener.”

Nestor Cortes, Jr. replaced Green in the second inning and gave up a run in the third, 1-0 Rays.

The Yanks tied it in the fifth when Luke Voit hit his 18th HR of the season.

The Yankees scored four runs in the sixth which decided the game. Austin Romine led off the inning with a double and moved up on a ground-out by Brett Gardner. Aaron Judge and Edwin Encarnacion each walked to load the bases. All runners moved up on a balk, Romine scoring. Didi Gregorius singled in two runs to make it 4-1, and took second on a throwing error by CF Kevin Kiermaier. After Voit lined out, Gleyber Torres got an infield single, moving Didi to third. A walk to Gio Urshela loaded the bases, then Mike Tauchman walked to force in a run to make it 5-1, the final score.

With the win, the Yanks have an 8 game lead over Tampa Bay (10 in the loss column), and a 10 game lead over Boston (11 in the loss column). The Rays have played four more games than the Yankees, thus they have four less games left to try to catch them.

A great night for the Yankees in trying to secure the AL East title and not having to settle once again for the wild card and that one-game, sudden-death wild card game.

Gregorius 2 hits, 2 RBI
Voit solo HR (18)

Green 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K, 1 HBP.  4.91
Cortes, Jr.  3 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 3 W, 2 K.  4.34
Cessa (W, 1-1, 4.20) 3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 3 K.
Ottavino 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.   1.70

 

 

 

Game 94. Yanks take first game of DH, 6-2.

I don’t know what it is about Domingo German and the first inning or first batter, but he had trouble again, giving up home runs to the first two batters as he hung curve balls on both pitches. Two batters into the game, down 2-0.

He walked the third batter, got a DP, gave up a single, then got a strikeout.

First inning, 2 HR, 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk. After that, German gave up no runs and only one hit and one walk over his next five innings.

The Yanks (61-33) came back to win the game, 6-2. With the win, German goes to 12-2 on the season.

On mlb.com, I see things about who the leaders are for certain awards. For the AL CYA, I see Verlander’s name, among others. I don’t see German’s. Why? 12-2, 3.38 isn’t exactly shabby.

Gio Urshela tied the game in the bottom of the second with a 2-run HR (9), and soon after that, manager Aaron Boone was ejected for disagreeing with the home plate umpire’s strike zone.

In the fourth, the Yanks loaded the bases, but D.J. LeMahieu struck out to end the inning.

The Yanks broke the game open in the fifth. Aaron Judge singled to lead off the inning and Aaron Hicks doubled Judge to third. After Edwin Encarnacion struck out, Gary Sanchez singled in a run to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Didi Gregorius popped up, but Luke Voit singled in Hicks to make it 4-2 and send Sanchez to second. Urshela then doubled in Sanchez, Voit going to third, to make it 5-2. Brett Gardner struck out to end the inning.

Hicks homered (9) in the sixth to make it 6-2, which turned out to be the final score.

Hicks 2 hits, solo HR (9)
Sanchez 2 hits, RBI
Urshela 3 hits, 3 RBI, HR (9)

German (W, 12-2, 3.38) 6 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 W, 5 K. Gave up 2 HR (to the first two hitters)
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  2.89
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.25
Hale 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.37

Ernie Broglio, part of one of the most lopsided and worst trades ever, dies at 83.

In my prior post to this one, I noted in my minor league report that Pumpsie Green, the first black player on the Red Sox, who were the last of the original 16 teams to integrate, recently passed away.

With this post, I see another former MLB player of note has passed away, Ernie Broglio, at the age of 83.

Broglio will always be known as a player involved in one of the worst trades in MLB history. He was with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959-1964, and led the majors in wins with 21 in 1960, and also in ERA+, when he finished 3rd in CYA voting (only one award then) and 9th in MVP voting. He won 18 games in 1963.

In the middle of 1964, the Cardinals traded Broglio, then 28, almost 29, to the Chicago Cubs for Lou Brock.

After 1963, Broglio never won 10 games in a season again. He wound up 1964 7-12, 3.82. He stayed with the Cubs in 1965 and 1966, going a combined 3-12, 6.61 in those seasons.

Brock, meanwhile, hit .348 for the Cardinals after the trade and helped the Cardinals win the 1964 World Series. He was such a big help that he finished 10th in MVP voting in 1964. He also helped lead the Cards to the 1967 World Championship and the 1968 pennant, and was a 6x All-Star, had over 3000 hits in his career, over 900 SB, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985 on his first time on the ballot. He finished in the top 10 for MVP voting in 1964, 1967, 1968, 1973 and 1974. He was runner-up in MVP voting in 1974 when he stole 118 bases, a then record. He hit .293 in his career.

Broglio, for the Cubs, went 7-19, 5.40 after the trade.